L2 to L1 conversion

USA L1, L2 Visa
1

Hi All,

I moved recently to US with L2visa. My spouse and myself applied for SSN couple of days back. My previous company in India is ready to give job once I get EAD. My questions are:

  1. Can I start applying my EAD now as both of our SSN are in progress?

  2. Can I ask my previous employer to file L1 as I have worked for past 5 years in same company. If so should I wait till SSN and EAD get appoved?

please clarify on this?

2

  1. Yes, EAD can be applied. Its independent of your SSN process.

  2. If the employer has a L-1 eligible job that you qualify for then go for it. You can start the discussion with them and when they are ready, they can file L-1 COS for you. If they don’t have L-1 eligible job, then you can work for them on L-2.

My additional 2 cents - Being on L-2 w/ EAD gives you access to lot many employers. In addition, L-1 often run into issues and time spent on L-1 gets counted towards H-1+L-1 cap of 6 years. So if were you, I would work on L-2 EAD and try for H-1.